Sonnet - July 2018 Poem by DM W

I have glimpsed love but it is a mirage.
I have tasted pleasure's infinite ways.
Bitter shadow fruit is all that remains.
All is vanity till the end of my days.
I have tried to exorcise nagging ghosts
But they cling leech like to my tortured mind.
Deceived by the husks that surround the hosts,
I cannot decipher symbol or sign.
I have profoundly sad stories to tell:
Of frail flowers dying; starved of sunlight;
Of wild struggles in heaven and in hell;
Of angels' laments in the fevered night.
Life's veneer of enchantment has passed.
Now I know nothing of value can last.